The Merseyside club are staring at a bottom-half finish, despite Southall deeming their team and resources to be better than those of Leicester City, who are on the cusp of a first ever top flight title.

The former Wales international described the 2015-16 season as a missed opportunity for Everton, and suggested a lack of clear ambition from the board was to blame for the club's failings.

"I’d like to see a proper philosophy and a proper message come out of the club," Southall told Radio City Talk. "It comes from the top. I have no idea what their plans are, I have no idea what their ambition is and I have no idea what their aspirations are.

"When you walk into Man United theirs is to win the league and they don’t mind saying it’s to win the league. What is ours? David Moyes told us that top 10 was great. This is a pile of rubbish. We need be winning the league and we should be proud enough to say we’re going to win the league.

"We don’t seem to have a clear message but maybe the new fella (owner Farhad Moshiri) will have a different way of doing things and we will. I’ve never heard the chairman (Bill Kenwright) come out and say: this is what we want to do, it’s all: let’s just do this, let’s just do that.

"There’s no long-term plan, everything’s week by week and you’ve got to have a clear philosophy of what you want to do.

"When you get a new manager in his philosophy is to win the league, that’s what he’s there for - to win trophies. If that’s not very clear then there’s something wrong with the club."

Everton manager Roberto Martinez, who is reportedly on the brink of the sack having won once in little under two months, very nearly led the Toffees into the Champions League in his first season at the club but is set to follow that up with back-to-back bottom-half finishes.

And when the subject of Europe came up Southall, who won five major domestic and continental trophies in 17 seasons at Goodison Park, asserted: "No, not Champions League football. We’ve got to win the league. Why would you want to come fourth?"